these sounds fall into my mi-i-i-ind

they definitely can't fall out of my mouth anymore... after this weekend my voice is gone, baby, gone. we're getting to the point in a study abroad-er's journey when, quite suddenly, those questions we automatically answer the first four months seem to echo in a real way for the last the final few weeks... wait, have I made friends? do I go out enough? am I having the best time ever? so on and so forth. so this weekend, I started checking some must-dos off a pretty long list.

Saturday - went to Tokyo DisneySea with Liza, Christine and Nori! All you have to do is look at people's cell phone keychains to know that Disney is crazy popular here, so you kind of have to go at least once.

DisneySea is like Epcot, but with rides... and every-flavored popcorn

Two thumbs up for the Tower of Terror! Wheeeere's Gina??

The cutest fam ever... and the best ride ever! To all my Indy Jones (and Shia LaBeauf) fans, this one goes out to you.

the little fireworks tab on my camera works after all!

this is how you know it's our last month here: after a long day at DisneySea, I headed straight for a longer night at Tokyo's second biggest sockhop, Club Ageha. this was only my second time going to a club - not only was my first time way back in March, but it was a pretty mixed experience (i.e. some of the American guys' antics were hilarious, I had fun dancing, place got too crowded and turned the floor into a moshpit). going home to Minami-Yono from Disney to change before the last train wasn't really possible with the long commute time, so I had put my dance stuff in a locker and grabbed it on my way out of Disney. I said good-bye to the girls at Shin-Kiba station, changed clothes in one of the grosser bathrooms I've seen in my life, and click-clacked my way through the rain, finally meeting up with the pre-session peeps at the entrance.

that. place. was. CRAZY. by virtue of not being in central central Tokyo, this club gets to be enormous, sleek and pretty. here's a useful way of thinking about the three floors: hip-hop: sweaty, techno/house: cool, reggae: poolside fun. yep, I said pool - outdoors AND right by the bay. and then there were the pickups, haha... sometimes wish I could wear a huge "Disclaimer" like one of those sandwich boards, one that would say "just because I'm black doesn't mean I'm Beyonce. you are likely a much better dancer than I am." I don't think some people would believe it anyway. anyway, having the built-in fascination factor because of my foreigness definitely appeals to my tendency to be laid-back in party settings. I met these cool guys who introduced me to vodka Red Bulls (a heart attack in a glass) and invited me to the beach, an American from Duke U., a weirdo photographer who wanted me to pose for him (???), and a couple of awesome girls who wanted me to join their little dancing circle... good times.

back home around 8 the next morning, I found that my voice was on its way out and my feet were begging me to just stop. I also crossed paths with my host sister, who apparently was on her way to a friend's house to study. yikes. only being able to offer my streaked mascara and droopy knee-highs as an answer to her knowing grin and armful of books kinda threw my fast living into rather harsh perspective, lol. Akiko-san's brought in a new exchange person from Hong Kong who's very sweet, but I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to give our introductions a proper go since it's impossible trying to communicate in any language at the moment.

gahhhh still have so much homework left to do, but I'm getting good at ignoring the nagging voice in the back of my mind in order to do fun and/or crazy things. tonight I eschewed the study routine to go to a show with Liza. the music was punk/hardcore, which is pretty new for me, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed rocking out with the crowd.